


the things we have in common

by sheelia



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Robot/Human Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-04-09 15:56:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4355198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheelia/pseuds/sheelia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He waves, looking like someone you'd see in a picture on a postcard: a gentle tilt of the head, a small shake of his hand, and a wide and bright smile. As always in postcards, the person is staring at something beyond the beholder, far off into the distance.</p><p>Sugawara's eyes are large, but also vacant.</p><p> <i>Ah, he's one of them.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	the things we have in common

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nein](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nein/gifts).



> For Eliza, you fucking piece of shit. 
> 
> thank you for sticking with me through the years. from kpop >> hq!!, cheers to a new era. also, it's after midnight and i'm keeping myself awake to finish this so that you see it when you wake up. i love you this much.
> 
> [ love songs for robots, patrick watson ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgpRVGDfvxg)

He finds him sitting in the waiting room -- well, it's not really considered a waiting room if it's just one table and a chair -- hands clasped and head bowed forward, as if in a silent prayer. The place is gritty; the floor is bare cement and he supposes he should have the windows cleaned every now and then, because the dust that has accumulated on the glass makes the outside look like it's raining when it's actually not. The man is fair and his skin is unbelievably radiant. He stands out against the grimy backdrop and his attire and posture suggests class. Daichi doesn't think about that for too long.

"Sugawara Koushi," he reads from the memo on his clipboard, eyes trained on the other's face with a bated breath. He watches Sugawara slowly sit up and look back at him.

He waves, looking like someone you'd see in a picture on a postcard: a gentle tilt of the head, a small shake of his hand, and a wide and bright smile. As always in postcards, the person is staring at something beyond the beholder, far off into the distance.

Sugawara's eyes are large, but also vacant.

_Ah, he's one of them._

 

\--

 

"So. What can I do for you today?" Daichi asks the moment he sits down at his workstation. He swivels himself around on his chair and vaguely points around him, gesturing for Sugawara to pull up a chair.

The garage is slightly stuffy in the summer heat, but Daichi's cracked open a few window panels to let in a little ventilation.

"Well, you see..." Sugawara starts mumbling and Daichi can tell that he's feeling embarrassed from the way his cheeks are blushing. It's amazing how far technology has come.

"I'm a robot," Sugawara finally decides to throw out after several attempts at going around it.

"Yes... and what can I do for you today?" Daichi asks again, softly smiling in an attempt to ease Sugawara and his nerves.

Sugawara reaches to palm the back of his nape and his eyes are in the shape of crescents. "There are several glitches with my vision and I was wondering if you could fix it."

Daichi leans back and his chair reclines a couple of degrees. He anchors his elbow on his desk behind him and brings his hand to his temple.

There are several rustic, 21st century vintage cars lying around in his garage, which is located in a shabby part of the city. Having them around feels oddly nostalgic, even though he never truly lived through that era. But they are a prominent reminder of what he is, and what he has built his life upon.

"I don't know if you've noticed, Sugawara-san, but I'm a mechanic. I work with cars. Not robots."

Sugawara places his hands on his knees and squeezes them. "I know, but you've worked on some before, and you're good."

"I've worked on _one_ ," Daichi feels the need to correct. "And he was an older model, nothing sophisticated like your programming." He eyes Sugawara's human-like skin and his build, and how his machinery takes all the minute details into consideration. The bobbing of his Adam's apple when he gulps, for example.

Daichi continues, "Why not just go back to your manufacturer?" _I'm sure they'll fix you up_ , he almost goes on to say before Sugawara interrupts, voice sounding like his throat is collapsing on itself, "I can't."

Daichi recoils a little into his seat. Sugawara is shaking his head and he explains, "This is my third defect. You know what happens to us, don't you? Three strikes and we're out." He pauses, as if ploughing through his thoughts to piece together the right words. "I want to live."

There are several logical flaws to that proclamation, but Daichi know better than to say that out loud. As a matter of fact, he is impressed.

"Okay," Daichi sighs in defeat, "I don't know what I'm signing myself up for, but I'll try."

Sugawara is beaming as bright as the sun.

 

\--

 

"So, describe the problem for me," Daichi says as he untangles some wires from a box he unearthed from the storeroom. Sugawara seats himself onto a long metal cart with wheels, making do with whatever furniture Daichi has in his garage.

"Every few blinks or so, my eyes feed me static. It's rather inconsequential, and I suppose I can live with it, but it kind of gets on my nerves that I can't see properly." Sugawara lies flat onto the cart, feeling that it would be appropriate, like a patient at the doctor's.

Once Daichi has freed the wires from its knots, he holds it up in front of Sugawara, asking, "Mind if I...?"

Sugawara nods, turning his head to the side to let him plug the wires into the holes on the back of his neck. Daichi's hand brushes against Sugawara's nape and the few strands of shining, gray hair at the base. He feels warm.

"Uhh," Daichi has his teeth clenched together, mouth pulled into an obvious frown. "This... obviously isn't binary. I don't know how to read this code."

Sugawara, with wires still sticking out the back of his head, sits up. His lips are pressed into a thin line.

"But I will help you," Daichi adds forcefully. "I just need some time to learn everything from scratch." 

When he says that out he sounds kind of stupid. He's just a mechanic -- one out of the thousands in this city -- and he's pretty sure that there's someone out there that's more competent at this. But he doesn't want to let Sugawara walk out of his shop feeling disappointed, for some odd reason. There's something about him that's alluring -- he's both an open book and a well-kept secret. He wants him to stay.

 

\--

 

He's on the third chapter of a textbook he picked up at the library downtown when Sugawara comes in on a Tuesday morning. He is carrying a box in a plastic bag and he sets it on the table, opens it up, and reveals a whole mango cake.

"Not very busy, I see," he states plainly, looking around. The room looks the same as it did a week ago -- the chairs are left in similar positions, the glass windows are still gross as hell, and the cactus on the waiting room table looks like it is dying.

Daichi shrugs, "Not a lot of people want cars that still run on gas. They're expensive."

Sugawara wheels one of Daichi's spinny chairs over. "I brought cake."

He delicately cuts a slice for Daichi and places it on a napkin, since Daichi doesn't have any plates.

"Why are you here, by the way, Sugawara-san" Daichi asks with his mouth full of cake. He thinks about his words for a while, hoping he didn't sound confrontational.

"Suga," he amends, cutting a slice for himself as well. "I just dropped the kids off at school. Y'know, robot butler and all."

He sinks his teeth into the spongy mango cake and sighs like he's just had a taste of heaven. "I thank the person who designed me every day for granting me the small pleasures in life."

"Nice to meet you, Suga," Daichi sticks his hand out. "I'm Daichi."

Suga has a nice, firm grip. Daichi almost forgets that they're not the same.

"So, rich family, huh," Daichi scoffs a little. There are small crumbs on his textbook and he feels bad about using it as a placemat.

"Wouldn't you know it? I'm not the only butler, of course. I just look after the kids, so it helps that I'm built this way," Suga says, moving his hands from his head to his waist. "To look as human as possible."

Daichi finishes his second slice and sets the dirty napkin on his textbook.

Suga directs his gaze to the sea of words, "So... how's my code looking up?"

"Hard, to be quite honest. I'm only at chapter three, even after spending so much time on it," Daichi replies.

Suga's eyes widen in alarm and he reaches to clasp his hand around Daichi's bicep -- unintentionally or intentionally, Daichi doesn't know. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Am I interrupting you? I really shouldn't have come in all unannounced!"

Daichi chuckles heartily, waving his hand. "No, no. Please. I like it when you're here."

He regards the stale air and rusty tools in his garage with newfound malice.

 _Yeah_ , the place _does_ seem to brighten up, even if only slightly, when Suga's around.

 

\--

 

Suga's first defect, Daichi learns, was a collapsed knee joint after years of swimming with the kids. Apparently, going in and out of cold water under the hot sun does that kind of damage to the metal in his body.

"Can you believe it?" Suga laughs. "I lost to water. What the hell."

His second defect happened shortly after, after three months. "I saved my master's youngest child from an incoming truck," Sugawara explains as he points to the small scratch under his chin. "My body was smashed to pieces -- rather unsightly, I suppose -- but my head was thankfully left intact, as was my programming."

"I would have been scrapped there and then. What use would an immobile machine be? But my masters kindly put up the money to repair me." Suga ran his hand down his other arm. "It's a bit hard to wrap my mind around. I'm 90% not the original _me_."

Daichi could see Suga's eyes go out of focus, drifting into some place he would never know, then watched as Suga forcefully blinked himself back into reality. "And well, this is my third. Probably collateral damage from that crash. I don't know."

Daichi can feel the conversation heading towards something sensitive for the both of them, so he changes the subject, "I've been looking at your code for almost two weeks now, and I might have figured something out."

Suga literally jumps in his seat.

"Let me try something," Daichi says mildly, guiding Suga towards the metal cart, which has now taken its permanent place next to his desk. He boots up the system, plugs the wires in, and starts up the program with his own self-made software update for Suga. When the patch finishes installing, he releases a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He turns around to look at Suga.

"How is it now?"

Suga sits up and pulls the wires out from his neck. He blinks several times, then winces when the static washes over him again.

 

\--

 

It turns out that Daichi's code's made Suga's vision problem worse, and it takes another hour and a half to uninstall the software patch from his system. Sugawara is fidgeting in his seat as he waits for Daichi to be done. It's thirty minutes to noon and he has to take the children's lunch to school. He should be able to make it back to the upper ring of the city if he runs.

"I'll be back later, all right?" Suga jumps up and dusts the imaginary dust off his pants. "I'm sorry, Daichi," he says, but Daichi wants to tell him _no, I-- It's my fault_ , but when he turns around Suga is already speeding out the door and across the street.

He watches Suga's retreating back through the grimy window. Perhaps the dust on the glass does some good. It gives the outside a retro, sepia look -- kind of reminds him of his father's pictures which hang on the walls at home.

Upon closer inspection, Daichi realizes he's made a fundamental mistake in his code. It's a rookie mistake, but Daichi doesn't want to let it slide. He saw Suga's eyes, red and positively burning. For some reason he wants to beat himself up. He plucks the same textbook down from his shelf and flips it to the appropriate section so that he can re-examine the program. The library book's due date is approaching in a couple of days, so Daichi makes a mental note to schedule a day to visit the library.

Well, he _could_ just use the online library, since it's supposed to be more convenient and so he doesn't have to carry a dead-weight around, but he prefers going to the library and holding physical books. The latter felt right to Daichi.

 

\--

 

"You've been on the same page for fifteen minutes," Suga plainly states, regarding Daichi with mirth as he chews on a biscuit stick. He holds it between his fingers like a cigarette.

"Shut up, you're not the one reading words that look like Webdings," Daichi replies with his face in his hands. He then lies his arms on the table, framing the textbook.

Suga reaches over and places his hand over Daichi's, perhaps unintentionally since the movement was fluid and it looked like Suga didn't even need to think about it. "I'm really sorry about all the trouble," it comes out almost as a whisper. He casts a look to the side. "It's all right if you can't fix me."

When he blinks again, his eyebrows furrow, as if he's trying to contain a headache.

Daichi finds his other hand over Suga's. He is warm and cool at the same time like the early morning sun. And Daichi insists, with Suga's hand sandwiched between his, that he will make things right.

 

\--

 

Suga waltzes in the next day just as Daichi wheels himself out from underneath a car. It just happens to be the perfect time for a break.

Suga laughs into his coffee, "I feel bad because you never get work done when I'm around."

Daichi grins as well, wiping his sweat with the towel over his neck. Suga looks good today -- a nicely pressed pastel yellow shirt and brown pleated pants. Daichi, on the other hand, was in his usual work attire: a black wife beater and cargo pants.

"Yeah, well," Daichi shrugs. "I like how everything works out."

Halfway into his cup of coffee, Suga suggests, "10 questions each, you can go first."

Daichi ponders for a while and lets his head rest on his fist.

"Can you fly?"

Sugawara's mouth falls open. "What do you think I am? _A robot?_ " He jokes, and then adds as an afterthought, "And no. That does not count as my question."

Daichi grins sheepishly.

"That's an obvious no, Daichi. I was built to resemble humans, and if I recall correctly, humans don't fly."

"Fair enough," Daichi shrugs. "Your turn."

Suga takes a long sip of his coffee, which has sadly gone cold. He sloshes it around his mouth from cheek to cheek.

"What does pain feel like?"

"Pain?" Daichi asks, surprised. "You don't--"

"Yeah," Suga immediately affirms. "Remember when my body got mangled by that bloody truck? All I remember was looking down at what used to be my body and going _Oh_. Would have been a pain in the ass, I suppose. The pain."

"Oh, uh. Well," Daichi immediately finds it hard to put it in words. He squeezes his hands in front of him like he's physically trying to grasp the words.

"I don't like it. It's like when I slam the drawer shut on my fingers, or when I have to sit through my mother's fifty minute rants when she complains I'm gross and my house is a mess. My entire life is, as a matter of fact."

Suga twists his lips to the side, looking helpless. "That's a lousy explanation. But I guess I kind of get it, in a weird roundabout way."

It's Daichi's turn to ask, and Suga reminds him not to waste his questions on stupid things.

"What's it like, living in the upper ring?"

Daichi bites his bottom lip. He's not discontent with his life, but sometimes he's just curious about what life would be like in a parallel universe. One where he would get to live in luxury. One where he wouldn't need to worry whether there'd be rice on tomorrow's dinner table.

"You might find it surprising Daichi," Suga smiles genuinely. His hands are wrapped around his empty cup. "But you treat me the best. My masters are great -- they're a close second -- but their guests treat me like I'm nothing."

He looks forlornly at the empty cup, but quickly snaps out of it.

"Daichi, what about love? What does that feel like?"

The late afternoon sunbeams filter through the cracks in the windows, and if Daichi stared hard enough he could see bits of dust falling. Suga's hair looks the best in the light. It is neatly swept to the side and it looks so soft. They are sitting so close that when Suga closes his eyes, Daichi can see his eyelashes.

Daichi digs deep within himself to piece together an explanation. "...Like the ocean. So vast that you almost always feel empty, so dense that you feel like you might drown."

Suga snorts, "Oh Daichi, so poetically tragic."

There is a moment of silence between them.

The words leave Daichi's mouth without warning, "The feeling I get when I'm with you."

Daichi pauses, then rewinds. How taboo, innately wrong, and realistically impossible. He expects Suga to stand up and leave, or pretend like nothing's happened. Instead, Suga sighs.

"We've got a lot in common, Daichi. Wanting something we can't have. So incredibly..." Suga mutters, his throat constricting. He coughs out a bitter laugh, " _human_."

 

\--

 

Suga continues to visit every day with a different dessert in his hands. Today, he brings lemon tarts.

"Wow, I can actually see your desk."

Daichi cleared the mountain of loose sheets of paper on his desk the day before, and he looks at the clean desk with pride.

In actual fact, he's been working on something he doesn't want Suga to see. He wants it to be a surprise if it works. He doesn't want to get Suga's hopes up, in case he fails. He had extended the due date on his programming textbook for another week. He keeps the journal articles on _the Implications and Dangers of Robot Emotion_ tucked inside his computer, away from Suga's line of sight.

There were, of course, several back doors that Daichi found on the internet. On seemingly deserted forums he found links embedded within links that led him to a scattered archive of helpful code.

And there was obviously Suga's vision problems he still had yet to fix. Suga has been living with the static for the past month and it seems to have grown worse. Daichi can tell from the way his speech slows down, and when he sometimes has to pause in the middle of his sentences.

Suga always waves and denies it, claiming that he's just tired from the lack of sleep. "Vacation just started. The kids keep me up all night with their games."

The look he gives Daichi is an exact replica of the one when he first saw him. He has on an amicable smile, and his eyes are glazed over.

 

\--

 

Today, Suga comes in with two rolls of sushi.

"A change," Suga smiles as he settles into his seat.

Daichi grabs onto Suga's arm before he can plop his ass onto the chair and ushers him to the metal cart. It's been a while since Suga's used it, so Daichi had placed a pillow there so that he feels more comfortable.

"I've been working on it all night, and I've checked at least twice to make sure I didn't fuck up like the last time. And if I do, I already have a procedure to uninstall," Daichi rushes through the sentence. His hands are shaking from both nervousness and excitement.

"Daichi. _Daichi._ Calm down. You look like shit," Suga puts a hand on Daichi's shoulder. "I trust you."

Wordlessly, Suga plugs the wires to the back of his neck and shifts until he's lying flat. "Let me know when you're ready!" He calls out.

_Well, now or never._

Suga's eyes flutter close. Daichi turns back to his screen, watching the progress bar climb with impatience.

He wonders how things came to be like this. This wasn't, technically speaking, legal, but damn the consequences if it means being happy.

The bar stops at 78% for over a minute and Daichi starts to panic. His hands are clenched tight around the armrests on his chair. When the bar finally climbs to 79%, he sinks into his seat.

The computer makes an annoying beeping sound when installation is complete. Daichi walks over to Suga and pokes him gently at the side, hoping that he comes to.

Suga stirs, his eyebrows furrowed. "Thanks for waking me up from my nap, stupid," Suga cheekily grins.

He sits up and tries blinking a few times. He pauses. He tries blinking again and his lips slowly spread into a wide smile.

He turns to face Daichi, eyes bright and full. He looks at Daichi like he's the only thing that matters, like he's the only thing he sees in his world.

"It worked!" Suga practically screams as he wraps his arms around Daichi, and Daichi sighs, long and tired and grateful, into Suga's cotton shirt.

Indeed, it has.

**Author's Note:**

> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> plaire @ tumblr


End file.
